Biographies in standard dynastic histories are notoriously sketchy and biased, because they are concerned primarily with the ups and downs of political careers and fail to provide accounts of cultural and religious lives. This flaw can misguide readers by leading them astray from impartial and thorough knowledge needed to understand historical personages. When reading the biography of Zhang Jizhi 張即之(1186-1266) in the Song History, the feeling of insufficiency is readily apparent. In this article, I delve into Zhang Jizhi's cultural and religious life, portraying him as fully as possible as a literatus and a patron of Buddhism. I bring up a number of points that, in my view, merit readers' attention. First of all, Zhang Jizhi enjoyed a brotherly relationship with the monk Xiaoweng Miaokan 笑翁妙堪 (1177-1248), as well as a father-son type relation with Wuwen Daocan 無文道璨 (1213-1271), who was Miaokan's disciple and Jizhi's protégé. Second, Jizhi established a special bond with younger Chan monks of his time, particularly with Wuchu Daguan物初大觀 (1201-1268). These were eminent monks who were eager to engage Jizhi in exchange of verse and to show their reverence for him as their teacher. Third, Jizhi dedicated himself to hand-copying Buddhist scriptures for nearly thirty years after his retirement, during which he copied countless scrolls of sutras, including the Diamond Sutra. Many of these he copied more than two or three times. Amidst the copying of sutras, Jizhi actively interacted with his monk friends, making him widely recognized as a "non-tonsured monk" and a friend of the monastery (kalyanamitra). His extensive learning and scholarly attainment encouraged his monk friends in appreciating literati culture. They came to yearn for the “external learning" (waixue), which they soon mastered. Their mastery of this learning made them literary monks, which dispels the myth of Chan antinomianism and biblioclasm that are still believed to have been an integral part of the Chan belief.